The Four of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

The Four of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 1, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow Video's Savage Guns: 4 Classic Westerns collection.

Arrow may be engaging in just the slightest bit of PR hyperbole with their description of the quartet of offerings in Savage Guns as "classic westerns", as even some of the commentaries included on this set get into. The sheer glut of what have alternately been called Spaghetti or Euro (as well as in one case on a disc in this set, Taco) Westerns throughout the sixties and seventies in particular probably unavoidably led to rather wide variances in quality, and if, as again the very commentaries on some of these discs overtly mention, some of the films in this set are probably not "top tier", they can be rather interesting in their own ways, and as usual Arrow has assembled an impressive array of supplements to augment things.

Trivia lovers will probably know that there was a little remembered 1962 effort from none other than Vincente Minnelli called The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and suffice it to say, it wasn't an all star MGM musical extravaganza. Perhaps because of that film, which tanked at the box office, or at least that film's title, this particular offering leaves out the "horsemen" part in its title, even if its status as a western probably implies that aspect one way or the other. This is in some ways easily the most gonzo of the films in Arrow's collection, with a plot that finds gambler Stubby Preston (Fabio Testi) ultimately teaming with a prostitute named Bunny (Lynne Frederick), a drunk named Clem (Michael J. Pollard), and a perhaps emotionally troubled guy named Bud (Harry Baird), after he ends up in jail with all of them.

This quartet itself then crosses paths with a villain named Chaco (Tomas Milian), who is supposedly based on Charles Manson (!), at least according to the back cover of this release. As might be inferred from the above summary, things repeatedly go haywire in any number of ways, and the fact that this is a Lucio Fulci film may indicate for those "in the know" that certain levels of graphic violence ensue. I have to say as someone who grew up in Utah I had to love the fact that the film is at least partially supposedly based there.

The Four of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Four of the Apocalypse is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet offers technical information on all four films in the set in a somewhat haphazard fashion on one page, so I'm "cutting and pasting" as necessary to offer data on each film separately:

The Four of the Apocalypse / I quattro dell' apocalisse is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with Italian and English mono sound.

The Four of the Apocalypse [was] restored by Intramovies from the original camera negatives. Additional picture restoration was completed by Arrow Films at R3Store Studios, London.

Audio was sourced from the optical sound negatives. The remastered aduio for The Four of the Apocalypse was supplied by Intramovies and contains some original Italian dialooue where English dialogue was not available.

This is another largely pleasing looking presentation of a cult film, but as with some of the other films in this collection, I found the color timing to be just a little odd, in this case kind of favoring a beige undertone that can keep things like primaries from resonating really strongly. The film also tends to traffic in some dimly lit interior spaces, which itself can keep things from "popping" in a traditional manner. That said, detail levels are generally quite strong, enforced by Fulci's repeated use of close-ups. Grain resolves naturally throughout, and I noticed no major signs of age related wear and tear.

The Four of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Four of the Apocalypse features LPCM Mono audio in either Italian or English. As with the other discs in this collection, Arrow has authored things so that toggling between the two audio tracks isn't possible, making a "side by side" comparison a bit difficult, but one way or the other, this is another case where I really noticed little if any difference between the two other than the languages being spoken. The film's score is rather interesting at times, and the theme that plays over the Main Menu kind of hilariously may remind some of The Sandpipers' work on films like The Sterile Cuckoo or Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, but everything sounds nicely fluid and full bodied. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Four of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Two Versions are available (see screenshot 10)


• Commentary by Kat Ellinger


• Apocalypse Now (HD; ) is a newly produced introduction by journalist and critic Fabio Melelli, who contextualizes the film within the "latter days" of the first flush of spaghetti westerns, as well as what Melelli calls the film's "literary roots". Subtitled in English.


• It Takes Four (HD; 35:02) is a previously unreleased interview with production manager Roberto Sbarigia. Subtitled in English.


• Do You See How Lucio Shoots? (HD; 42:35) is another interesting piece from Stephen Thrower, discussing both this film in particular and Lucio Fulci in general.


• The Rhythm Devils Play (HD; 37:11) features Lovely Jon discussing the film's composers Franco Bixio, Fabio Frizzi and Vince Tempera.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:45)


• Image Gallery (HD)

The Four of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The fact that this was supposedly culled from the writings of Bret Harte, and the fact that the cast features at least a couple of marquee stars relatively familiar to non-European audiences might suggest that this might be the closest thing to a "traditional" Hollywood western in this Arrow collection. Simply mentioning the fact that this was a Lucio Fulci film should be enough to disabuse anyone suffering from that delusion (this is all said with tongue firmly in cheek, of course). This is often quite graphically violent, and also kind of inherently smarmy on a couple of levels, but it's also undeniably visceral a lot of the time. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very enjoyable for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.